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“The dam's breaking up! We must find high ground!”
― Toby's driver

Toby and the Flood is the tenth episode of the fifth series. In the US, it aired with Toby's Discovery during an airing of Storytime with Thomas.

Plot

During a rainy autumn for weeks, Toby is feeling miserable due to both the rain and the fact that his branch line runs through a village that is in danger of flooding from the rising river. The only thing preventing water from overflowing in the river is a dam. Percy arrives at the village beside Toby, who is about to investigate the dam for any concerns of damage. He informs Toby that crossing the dam in heavy rain could be dangerous, and asks Toby to be careful. Toby assures Percy he will try to be safe, and heads off to investigate the dam.

When he arrives at the dam, Harold is there inspecting it as well. Toby starts to cross cautiously, but his driver notices the dam is beginning to crumble, with water seeping through. The driver is now alarmed, and declares they must warn everyone to find higher ground. Toby races off the dam as fast as his wheels will let him.

Meanwhile, Percy is waiting on the other side of a wooden bridge at the end of the village, which is now in danger of collapsing due to the rising river. Toby's driver warns Percy and his crew about the dam and they need to find higher ground immediately. Percy explains their only chance now is to cross the bridge. Though believing it to be unsafe, Toby begins to cross the bridge. The dam however collapses as soon as Toby is halfway across and with the water escaping, the bridge Toby is crossing tears away from the riverbanks and is swept down the river, with Toby still on it. Percy follows the river down his own line to find Toby further downstream. Harold - having seen the collapsed dam - flies off to help rescue Toby.

Toby is floating helplessly along the flooding river when he sees a sign saying "Beware the Waterfall." As Toby and his crew approach it, they see Harold flying in urgently. He calls out that his crew is going to drop a rope to Toby, whose crew must tie it to him. The rope is dropped and attached to one of Toby's buffers just as Percy arrives. Harold flies over to Percy and tells him to catch the rope and pull Toby to safety. The rope is dropped to Percy, and its end is tied to his buffer. Percy - puffing as hard as he can - finally pulls Toby back to safety.

When the floods subside and the dam is repaired, a party is held in Toby's honour by the villagers and hosted by the Fat Controller, who is very impressed with Toby and Harold's bravery. Percy says he could not have been so brave, and Toby tells him he would not know until he tries, but Percy would rather hope he would never have to.

Characters

Locations

Trivia

  • According to a film slate:
    • A deleted scene used in the Harold the Helicopter music video was filmed on 26 November 1997. The slate is labelled "J", confirming that the scene would have been used in this episode, as the music video indicated.
    • The dam scenes were filmed from 16-17 March 1998. The close-up of Toby's driver was filmed on the 18th.
    • The set of Toby's Village was filmed from 18-19 March 1998.
    • The bridge set was filmed on 20 and 23 March 1998.
    • The waterfall set was filmed on 24 March 1998.
    • The remaining close-up shots of the human figurines in the episode were filmed on 31 March 1998.
  • This is Harold's first episode with a leading role since the third series episode, Thomas, Percy and the Post Train.
  • Extended stock footage from Gallant Old Engine is used for the opening shot.
  • Inspiration for this episode might have come from the Elan Valley Railway in Wales, which had a section of railway line running along the front of a dam that was under construction.
  • According to concept art:
    • The village was originally going to be shown flooding after the dam burst.
    • The dam was originally going to have a curved shape. It is possible this was dropped in favour of a smaller one due to budget problems.
    • Percy's role in the episode was originally meant for Thomas, as the concept art of the old bridge near the village depicts the rescue line as "Rescue Line (Thomas)".
  • It is possible that this episode is loosely adapted from an unused second series TUGS script.
  • The footage of Percy racing after Toby is sped up.
  • The Korean dub of this episode had some scenes cut when aired on television, but the home video releases featured the uncut episode.
  • Silicone rubber was used to create dangling rails when the dam collapsed.
  • Percy's chassis appears to be very worn out during the scene where he was pulling Toby to safety. This is a big reason for why a new brass model was built for him in Thomas and the Magic Railroad.

Goofs

  • The small scale model of Toby's driver has a different beard compared to his large scale one.
  • When Toby races off the dam, the narrator says that Toby shunted back, but he was not shunting.
  • At the party, two people appear to be lying on the ground.
  • Toby's driver is grinning when he says, "It's our only chance!"
  • Harold is smiling when he follows Toby to rescue him.

Quotes

Percy: [about the dam during the storm] Driver tells me it may be dangerous up there. Please be careful, Toby.
Toby: I'll try.

Percy: I could never have been so brave, Toby.
Toby: Oh, I'm sure you would be, but you never know until you've tried.

In Other Languages

View content
Language Title
Brazilian Portuguese A Inundação
Chinese Mandarin 托比和洪水
Czech Toby a povodeň
Danish Toby og Oversvømmelsen
Dutch Toby en de Overstroming
Finnish Topi ja tulva
French Toby et l'inondantion
German Toby und die Flut
Greek Ο Τόμπί και ο Κατακλυσμό
Hungarian Toby és az Árvíz
Italian Toby e L'alluvione
Japanese ながされたトビー
Korean 마을을 구한 토비
Latin American Spanish Toby y la Inundación
Norwegian Toby og Oversvømmelsen
Polish Tobik i Powódż
Romanian Toby şi Inundaţia
Russian Тоби и наводнение
Slovenian Tobi in Poplava
Swedish Översvämningen

Home Media Releases

UK

DVD Boxsets

US

CAN

  • Races, Rescues and Runaways and Other Thomas Adventures

DVD Boxsets

AUS

DVD Boxsets

NZ

  • Happy Ever After (VHS)

JPN

KOR

NOR

GRC

SWE

PHL

SWE

GER

DVD Boxsets

MYS

DK

ITA

SVN

HK

THA

TWN


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